What Esper Mentor Does
This deck is a truly midrange deck, disrupt then deploy. The gameplan is fair, you’ve to disrupt gameplan of your opponent via discards, removals and counters. After the disruption, you’ve to deploy your threat and win the game.
It’s not simple to play this deck, because you’ve to change your path as the game goes, because you’ve to switch your gear from control style to aggro style, and sometimes you’ve to switch multiple times in a single game.
Here the decklist:
Strengths
This deck relies on searching solution with a lot of cantrips and draw card effect. After that, it tries to stay alive with a lot of cheap interactions and then overcome the opponent with the card advantage generated through Monastery Mentor and Snapcaster Mage. Moreover, using Surgical Extraction maindeck helps to fight graveyard and combo strategies.
Weakness
Sometimes you just can’t find the right answer and/or find the third land, that is mandatory to get card advantage with Snapcaster Mage and for playing T3feri. Suffers a lot Burn and Tron game 1, because can’t race in but need to stabilize in first turns. Moreover, suffers a lot Chalice on 1.
Suffers, moreover, to land denial/Blood Moon because the really stretched manabase and fetching the wrong land could cost you the game.
More Thougts
This deck is really hard to play, and multiple times you could lose the game because the first turn decisions like:
1) Opening hand
2) Land
3) Interaction
I give you some example:
1) This hand has 3 lands, 2 removals, a discard and surgical, what I’ve to do?
2) This hand has 1 fetchland, 1 SV, 1 opt, 2 pte, 1 force and mentor, should I crack for watery grave or hallowed fountain?
3) This hand has 1 fastland and island, 1 SV, 1 IoK, 1 push, 1 teferi and 1 unearth, should I go for SV or for IoK?
Moreover, you feel like that sometimes G1 is unwinnable against a lot of deck, but you’ve access to a really strong sideboard that could lead you to a win
Sideboard Guide
Hogaak
+1 PtE, +1 Celestial purge, +3 Yixilid Jailer, +1 Kaya
-2 Thoughtseize, -4 Push
All the discard spells are good only on turn 1 in G1, but in G2/3 they side in some reactive card that you can stripe from their hand, by the way life is an important resource so is better to stay up.
Moreover we side in more powerful removal against them instead of push and, obviously, our graveyard hate. If you think that your opponent could side in Leyline of the Void, I would side out Unearth and I would side in 1 push and 2 Fulminator mage
UR Phoenix
+1 PtE, +1 Celestial purge, +1 Kaya, +2 Narset
-2 Force of Negation, -1 Pierce, -2 SV
Here you want to outvalue your opponent with you CA. I keep my push in so I can kill their TITI and Phoenix and surgical them.
Moreover I wouldn’t side in Yixilid because they play lava dart and force is a source of CD. Moreover the are going to side in Narset, so I remove some SV.
EldraTron
1 Pte, +2 Fulminator, +1 Stony
-1 Pierce, -3 Unearth
They are going to side in all Leyline, so I think that your unearth are going to be useless. Moreover, I remove all the pierce because they aren’t so good.
Keep in mind that all the draws that they do are usually so much better than ours, so you’ve to close the game before they can overcome you. Try to counter/discard Karn and you’ve to counter chalice on 1.
Jund
+1 EE, +1 Pte, +1 Celestial Purge, +1 Pierce
-3 Unearth, -1 Force
More or less, we’re the same deck in different colors. They trade the cantrips for lands and planeswalker. You’ve to outvalue them with mentor, so cast it only if you can cast 3 or more spells.
We side out unearth because the are going to side in leyline and we remove 1 force because we don’t want to go for CD. Pierce here is good to counter their planeswalker and with removal we can go for the creature. This is a really nice match to play.
Humans
+1 EE, +1 Pte, +1 Kaya
-2 Thoughtseize, -1 Pierce
Usually, I leave in Force so I can counter T1 Vial, moreover here you’ve a lot of removal plus snapcaster, so you’ve just to kill everything they play than go for mentor
UW Control
+1 Pierce, +2 Narset, +2 Fulminator, +1 Kaya
-4 Push, -2 SV
Usually they’ve a low count of threats, so just surgical their wincon (Jace TMS usually). Leave in PTE so you can kill their sideboard creature plan (Lyra/Baneslayer). Here you’ve to deploy your threat then disrupt, so Snapcaster + Discard in your turn is a great way to try to win the game.
Tron
+2 Narset, +1 Stony, +2 Fulminator, +1 Pierce
-4 Push, -2 IoK
Here you’ve to go for fulminator + surgical, moreover we side in more lock piece in form of narset and stony silence, so all the air that they play are less effective.
Burn
+2 Brutality, +1 Celestial Purge, +1 Kaya, +1 Pte, +1 Pierce
-2 Surgical, -2 Force, -2 Thoughtseize
G1 is really awful as I said before, but g2/G3 we side in some great card against burn. Here you’ve to fetch really carefully and try to stay up with life. Brutality is like a powerhouse here. Use mentor only if you can gain advantage, so only if you can protect it or you can play 2 or more spells.
Urza Sword
+1 Stony, +3 Yixilid Jailer, +1 Kaya, +1 Pierce
-2 Pte, -3 Unearth, -1 Opt
This is not a bad matchup, try to discard their combo piece then go for surgical. With side we can lock them with stony or we can stop the combo with jailer. Here you have to disrupt while beating with snapcaster. The target for your force are Whir of invention and ensnaring bridge.
MonoR Phoenix
+1 PtE, +1 Celestial purge, +1 Kaya, +2 Narset, +2 Brutality
-2 Force of Negation, -1 Pierce, -2 SV, -2 Thoughtseize
Here you want to outvalue your opponent with you CA. I keep my push in so I can kill their prowess creatures, Phoenix and surgical them.
Try to keep your pte/purge for bedlam reveler and try to stay up with life with kaya and brutality.
Moreover I wouldn’t side in Yixilid because they play lava dart..
Dredge
The same as Hogaak
Final
That’s it, now I think that you’re able to start playing this deck. It’s hard to play, but it’s very satisfying when you win, because every play is crucial and you could win (or lose) from outta nowhere.
Enjoy